You clearly have no done any logical homework on Cannabis what so ever. Your information was over 14 years ago. This is the modern era, with more accurate studies and information. It was proven by Harvard Medical School, a school where you are not likely going to get into. Cannabis does not cause hallucinations, lung disease, or heart problems. Marijuana does not cause any form of physical or mental harm. The only thing it causes is relaxation, happiness, and the munchies. No one has ever died from cannabis and no one ever will. Visit this link

"Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere."
- George Washington, U.S. President quote on Hemp, and if you don't know what hemp is. It is another word of Marijuana

[You clearly have no done any logical homework on Cannabis what so ever. Your information was over 14 years ago. This is the modern era, with more accurate studies and information.]

Thank you! The contender respects your opinion; however, there are still valid researches conducted a long time ago that are still valid today. Sir, you"re not in position to tell me that I"m wrong. In fact, the proposition is still debatable that makes it all our arguments not conclusive.

(It was proven by Harvard Medical School, a school where you are not likely going to get into.)

Harvard Medical School does not have final authority to conclude about marijuana, others have a say like Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and others.

REB:Thomas Geller, MD, Associate Professor of Child Neurology at the Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, et al., wrote in their article "Cerebellar Infarction in Adolescent Males Associated with Acute Marijuana Use," published inPediatrics in Apr. 2004:"Each of the 3 cannabis-associated cases of cerebellar infarction was confirmed by biopsy (1 case) or necropsy (2 cases)... Brainstem compromise caused by cerebellar and cerebral edema led to death in the 2 fatal cases."http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org...

Rebuttals:
1. "valid researches conducted a LONG TIME AGO that are still valid today."
Again your research has been conducted 14 years ago, similar to a time when there was still a Columbus day. But now, Columbus day is no more, because of more up to date research which is accurate. Cannabis has not been funded by the government enough to be research, it is proven that funds have been cut to slow the process of research for Cannabis.

2. "Deaths"
The deaths that have been listed by yourself, are not accurate enough, it can't be proven that their deaths were by Cannabis alone. For example, someone could have died by eating a cheeseburger from a heart attack of because of some other illness such as cancer, the cheeseburger isn't blamed. These "victims" could have had a different illness that caused their deaths, they just may have had cannabis in their system.

3. "Harvard"
Since Harvard's medicals studies have gone public, there have been several attempts to undermine it and counter it. But as always, the Harvard team has been ready for any questions and have been able to defend their proposition. No school, government, corporation, or hospital has yet to prove them wrong. Harvard's statement still stands strong.

4. "Physical Harm"
Marijuana does cause dry mouth, impaired motor skills, and red eyes, but however, these effects can be found with alcohol consumption and tobacco consumption. However when marijuana is consumed, the consumer is fully aware of his/her surroundings, unlike alcohol and tobacco over-dose where drunkenness causes violence and extremely random activity and in many cases deaths. Marijuana does cause impaired thinking but only for a short duration in which case the subject is 'High' their actions include obvious reasoning, happiness, talkative, and slow reaction time because of increase of heart rate. This causes the feeling of slowing down time and therefore relaxation. I remind you that this is only temporary effect as the user is high which maybe from 1-3 hours depending on amount of consumption. The user is fully responsible for the amount they consume much like their consumption of drinking alcohol. However the rest of the accusations are false and are not scientifically proven. Also a note, only Cannabis that is low in THC are consumed. Marijuana distributor's in order to smoke/consume cannabis must first try out the leaves, this can happen by either crushing the leaves, or drying them in the sun, both of these ways reduce the amount of THC in them. And THC is the cause of why cancer is curable as stated by Harvard. Victims of cancer usually consume marijuana that has dried individually because of its detachment from its plant. These take longer to dry but keep the THC.

New statements
5. Cannabis helps anyone and everyone.
For example, as reported by CNN and many other news broadcast stations, A child which has been suffering from severe seizures constantly at least once a day since she was born has been cured. Hospitals before said that nothing could be done. But with more research by her father, he was able to find a similar case in which a boy was suffering the same, but was cured with marijuana. She has now gone seven days without a single seizure. Many cases are similar to this one, many have been cured the same. The hospitals which are run by the government, which are secretly run by corporations are full of greed. They would rather have a person who is sick buy expensive medicine and slowly get better having to buy more expensive medicine. Rather that smoke marijuana for a low price and get better quicker. Cannabis improves stress, cancer, and many other illnesses. The first presidents of the united states as well as many other celebrities still alive today smoke cannabis and encourage their growth and spreading. Cannabis was given to us by mother earth, while tobacco was created by mixed breeding of plants. The earth/god (for you religious people)knows our weaknesses. We were created/evolved from it. Use something from the earth, not something that we created for the corporations benefit.
Reports/Proof of statementhttp://edition.cnn.com...http://hollywoodlife.com...

Rebuttals:Again your research has been conducted 14 years ago, similar to a time when there was still a Columbus day. But now, Columbus day is no more, because of more up to date research which is accurate. Cannabis has not been funded by the government enough to be research, it is proven that funds have been cut to slow the process of research for Cannabis.

*The study conducted by The National Institute on Drug Abuse was not 14 years ago, it was conducted in 2010.

The deaths that have been listed by yourself, are not accurate enough, it can't be proven that their deaths were by Cannabis alone. For example, someone could have died by eating a cheeseburger from a heart attack of because of some other illness such as cancer, the cheeseburger isn't blamed. These "victims" could have had a different illness that caused their deaths, they just may have had cannabis in their system.

*You have to disprove Thomas Geller, MD, Associate Professor of Child Neurology at the Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center for saying that his research was inaccurate. But you failed to disprove his findings. In fact, "Each of the 3 cannabis-associated cases of cerebellar infarction was confirmed by biopsy (1 case) or necropsy (2 cases)... Brainstem compromise caused by cerebellar and cerebral edema led to death in the 2 fatal cases."

Since Harvard's medicals studies have gone public, there have been several attempts to undermine it and counter it. But as always, the Harvard team has been ready for any questions and have been able to defend their proposition. No school, government, corporation, or hospital has yet to prove them wrong. Harvard's statement still stands strong.

*You failed to present an example of this claim, it’s too broad. It’s like saying that only Harvard medical studies are conclusive and other schools, hospitals, government institutions, and other studies are wrong.

Marijuana does cause dry mouth, impaired motor skills, and red eyes, but however, these effects can be found with alcohol consumption and tobacco consumption.

*Again, the burden of proof has shifted to you, but you failed again to disprove the 2012 study by The National Institute on Drug Abuse. You should not only stated that those effects are found in alcohol consumption and tobacco consumption, but you should have also disprove the study The National Institute on Drug Abuse regarding the effects of marijuana.

ARGUMENTS:

Cannabis can help a person like what you said but it does not mean that the benefits exceeds the risks.

You have been relying that much with Harvard’s study, but I will make you taste your own medicine! I will show you how your source will turn against you!

As a treatment for psychiatric disorders, the risks of marijuana use exceed the benefits, reports the April 2010 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.

Regular use of marijuana can lead to addiction and other mental health problems, especially in people who are genetically vulnerable, notes Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.

Addiction. The concentration of THC (the herb’s psychoactive component) in marijuana has been increasing in recent years. Addiction specialists are concerned that this increased potency might accelerate development of dependence.

Anxiety. At low doses, THC can be sedating. At higher doses, it can induce intense anxiety. Although some people find that marijuana calms them down, the most commonly reported side effects of this substance are intense anxiety and panic attacks.

Mood disorders. In people with bipolar disease, marijuana can bring on manic episodes and increase rapid cycling between manic and depressive moods. Several studies also suggest that in some people, regular marijuana use may trigger depression.

Psychosis. Marijuana intensifies psychotic symptoms and worsens outcomes in people with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. The results of several large observational studies also strongly suggest that using marijuana can increase the risk of developing psychosis, particularly in young people.

Okay, now lets not get side tracked away from the fact that Cannabis should be legalized. Some information through this debate may be true, some may be false. But you cannot stray from the fact that Cannabis is illegal and has more pros than cons. Compared to legal drugs, and alcohol, and tobacco. Alcohol kills hundreds of thousands a year in the US alone, some thing with other medicines and drugs. Why should Marijuana be legal if it has more pros than alcohol, tobacco, and some modern medicines combined? Cannabis has cons yes, its not the perfect drug, but if is legalized, it can be taxed, and more people would use it often and more people would be cured. Alcohol and tobacco are one of the many substances that are highly sold in the US, yet it barely has any pros. More deaths have occurred from Alcohol consumption in a month that Cannabis in its lifetime. The legalization of Cannabis will help many, even the government and the economy, it just has to be processed correctly. With taxation, and strict laws and regulations it can be a successful investment by the US government instead of letting pot dealers get the profit for themselves which will only benefit the consumer and the dealer.

i would like to say that it is pointless to debate over whether or not cannabis can cause physical harm or not. rather, the debate should be whether or not cannabis is a significant enough danger to the user or the people around them. the contender uses a lot of "could's" and "mights" in debate at one point and the other guy is not that great at debating , period. sorry for the harsh look at it but this is my comment and opinion.

i still have to argue that cannabis should be a free and uncontrolled substance because if legalized and immediately turned into a commodity, we will not have gotten anywhere in my opinion. that will just give the wrong people another face from which to capitalize on.

many studies will agree at the end of the day that cannabis is not a substance which when used openly in society will cause the slow breakdown of society itself. the the symptoms of the drug in the body are only ever temporary and don' have a lasting effect on the body.

it should also be heavily noted that, yes those with an already existing psychosis or mental problem should not be using substances which affect the mind. duh people duh. also, no S H I T that children shouldnt be using cannabis in their early years of development or early teens as they are still in a very delicate moment in psychological development. THAT part of your debate i found to be a sucker punch as it was misleading and obvious. by saying that it is not good for minors or sufferers of mental diseases is completely pointless as it wouldnt be accepted if it was legal anyway and will unfortunately be taken as the whole truth by many ignorant people.

the "sad" truth is that cannabis is beneficial in many ways to someone who is NOT suffering from a mental problem or who should not be taking mind altering substances when still maturing mentally, that being the majority of people on earth.